Fair Trade and Justice: A Case Study of Fair Trade and its effect on the Freedom of Bolivia’s indigenous women.

Title: Fair Trade and Justice: A Case Study of Fair Trade and its effect on the Freedom of Bolivia’s indigenous women.
Summary:

Amartya Sen wrote that for justice to be realized, freedom needed to be expanded. Fair
Trade, a multi-billion dollar global trade model, purports to promote justice, and therefore
expand freedom. Fair Trade is a four-pillar structure comprised of institutions, producers,
consumers, and government/policy. An economic, ethnographic study of Bolivia’s indigenous
women working within the Fair Trade model for the past 15 years reported mixed results. The
women questioned the justice of the model based on negative experiences with irregular work,
stress, and unsupportive communities. At the same time, women reported enhanced capabilities
and opportunities from skills development, empowerment, and income. Although it increased
women’s freedom, there were ways in which Fair Trade could be made fairer through
transparency, reciprocity, and public reasoning. These would need to be equally present
amongst all four pillars of Fair Trade. This work is significant in that it creates a new
understanding of justice and trade which enables women’s voices to be heard.

TO CITE THIS ARTICLE:

Tamara Stenn 2012 Fair Trade and Justice: A Case Study of Fair Trade and its effect on the Freedom of Bolivia’s indigenous women. International Confederation of Associations for Pluralism in Economics (ICAPE)

Language: English
Type: Journal
Academic Publication: yes
Other Info: